


Summer Prince

by royalDelirium



Category: Tales of Zestiria
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-09
Updated: 2018-05-09
Packaged: 2019-05-04 07:23:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,858
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14587956
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/royalDelirium/pseuds/royalDelirium
Summary: Through winter the land sleeps, resting and healing, waiting for spring to come and the land to grow again. Just as the land waits the Winter King waits as well for his Summer King to bring life.





	Summer Prince

Snow crunched softly beneath his boots as Sorey made his way through the woods. It had stopped falling in the night the sky was clear and blue, perfect for spring despite the deep chill that settled in the air. He was thankful for the clear weather, it made the journey so much easier.

Coming here had been a whim, not many wanted to travel up this way, not since the summer stopped coming. Not so long ago the spring and summer months of this area were some of the most beautiful, it had once been a popular travel destination. No one was quite sure why it suddenly changed, nothing should have changed that quickly and that localized.

Sorey came here to potentially learn what had happened, not for any altruistic purpose, but simply to satisfy his own curiosity. Maybe he could figure it out, he'd be glad to share that information so it could help the poor people who live here. But his real reasoning is selfish, he wasn't afraid to admit that.

He was made even happier when the inn keeper let him know there actually was a small former shrine for worship of summer. It was falling apart because no one had been there in many generations, but maybe he could get some answers there. Others had scoffed at the idea, but ruins, former shrines, places of history were Sorey's love.

He could almost smell the temple, he was so close. The trees thinned a bit more and he could see the stone rising out of the ground. He found it.

No snow touched the clearing where the temple stood despite there being snow covering everything else. The shrine almost looked like a house, from this angle he could see a doorway through the window space. He walked around the building admiring the designs carved into the walls.

He turned that last corner and stopped dead in his tracks. At the doorway a young man slept, one of the most beautiful people Sorey had ever seen. He looked like snow come to life. And he wasn't wearing near enough to fight the cold in the air.

Sorey ran the last bit and dropped down beside the man, reaching out to him.

"Oh please be," he started to say before purple eyes opened and stared up at him, cutting him off.

Someone was moving closer to him, Mikleo could feel the human approaching, but he couldn't work up the energy to move. Most people would just glance over him, so it didn't matter too much. He kept his eyes shut and his head tilted back, enjoying the warmth of the sunlight on his cold skin.

Suddenly the air was warmer, the person had dropped down next to him. Mikleo opened his eyes and saw the sun as a human.

"Ah!" Sorey smiled brightly, "you are awake!"

Mikleo sat up, the human scooted back to give him more room. "Yes, I was just resting."

"Aren't you cold? It's freezing out here. Where is your jacket? What are you doing here?" Sorey shot question after question at him, but stopped when he caught the slightly overwhelmed look that was settling on his face. "Right, I should start properly. Hi, I'm Sorey," he held out his hand.

Mikleo reached out and put his hand in Sorey's, the warmth flowed threw him and it was wonderful. "Hello Sorey, you can call me Mikleo."

The sun was starting to set, Mikleo wasn't ready for the day to be over. Despite his insistence that the cold didn't bother him, Sorey had forced the scarf around his neck. It was soft and smelled wonderful, he was loathed to give it up.

"Are you sure you don't want to come back with me?" Sorey asked one last time.

"If you want to see me again, you can visit me here."

Mikleo started to unravel the scarf to give it back to Sorey, but hands stopped him and rewrapped it. "Keep it!"

With one last goodbye Sorey set off back to the inn, Mikleo watched him walk off. It had been nice to be someone for a while. Long after the sun had set he faded back into the snow.

Back at the inn, Sorey shook the snow off his boots. He had to ask if the inn keeper had met Mikleo before and if she knew where he was from. If not he would just have to visit the shrine again.

In his room he dropped his coat over the chair and hurried to his luggage. With a smile he pulled out one of the several books he brought with him. This was one of the ones that spoke about the summer that this area used to have. Mikleo would love this one, he had to bring it with him tomorrow.

Now that he had prepared his present, Sorey headed back downstairs. He needed to feed himself and ask the inn keeper about Mikleo.

Once he was downstairs he heard someone calling out to him, "ah there you are boy!"

The inn keeper was waving him over. "Good evening," he said as he approached.

"I was wondering if you were ever gonna make it back, or if you got eaten by the snow out there," she joked.

"Nope, I just met someone and lost track of him," he replied.

The inn keeper looked at him concerned, "you met someone out there?"

"Yeah," Sorey nodded enthusiastically, "do you know anyone by the name of Mikleo?"

She paused for a moment before shaking her head, "can't say it rings a bell."

Sorey sighed but smiled anyway, "oh well I am going to meet him at the shrine again tomorrow."

"You boys be careful at there," she said, "and speaking of that shrine, my bar keep remembered a story about it he wanted to tell you." She shooed him toward the food, "get some food and have him tell you."

He thanked her and headed over toward the smell of delicious food. The man behind the counter smiled wide at the sight of Sorey, he already had a plate of food ready for him.

"Sit boy, sit," he said with enthusiasm, "I hear you wanna hear the story about that shrine yeah?"

At the older man's insistence Sorey dug into the food while being told the story of the Summer King and Winter King.

No one knew where the kings came from or what they really were, where they gods or just spirits? But they knew that the kings gave the land it's beauty. The Summer King came with spring, bringing flowers and warmth to the land. He thrived through the summer, giving the people their crops. As autumn came the Summer King weakened and in his place came the Winter King. The Winter King brought the snow and cold, he put the land to sleep, covering it in frosty blankets. This gave the land it's time to heal from the hard work of the summer, preparing once again for spring to come. The people used to worship these two kings who rarely appeared to them, but always brought their gifts. The practice had long since died out and that shrine was once the place to give gifts to the kings, thanking them for their hard work.

It was a very interesting story he would have to share it with Mikleo tomorrow.

To say Mikleo was shocked would be a great understatement, Sorey had shown back up. He had come back and brought something to share.

Upon arriving at the shrine Sorey flashed a brilliant smile, both at seeing his new friend and seeing his scarf still wrapped around that neck. He would eventually learn how to get him to accept more, but for now at least he is wearing the scarf.

"Mikleo, I'm back!" he shouted despite the forest being quiet.

"Good morning Sorey," Mikleo replied with a smile of his own.

Sorey jogged the last little stretch to the shrine and dropped down next to him, patting his bag as he settled. "I brought something I think you are going to like."

He pulled the treasure from his bag. Together the two of them poured over the text, Mikleo was thoroughly enthralled by the pictures of spring and summer. He could make out where the pictures had been taken, but he had never seen so much color on the land before. It was beautiful.

That day turned into a week and that week into a month. Every day was spent together in that shrine, enjoying each other's company.

Sorey could never convince Mikleo to join him or to show him where he lived, but it didn't bother him much anymore. The only thing that worried him was that it was about time for him to leave.

"You could join me," Sorey said in the evening of his last day here, he would leave tomorrow. "We could visit castles, we could tour museums and other historical sites. You could spend days in libraries reading. I could show you summer."

Mikleo knew this day was coming, he had been dreading it, but he was as prepared as his heart would let him be. "Sorey I," he paused for a breath, "I would love to go with you but I can't leave this land."

He looked sad, but understanding. "The night I met you one of the people of the village told me a story." Sorey looked him in the eye, "you are the Winter King aren't you." He smiled not allowing time for a response. "I'll bring back souvenirs!"

It wasn't a goodbye, he wouldn't say a goodbye. His heart couldn't take it. He headed back off through the woods.

"Goodbye my Summer Prince," Mikleo said to his back, quietly so only the snow would hear.

The next morning as Sorey reached the edge of the village snowflakes began to fall, they hadn't fallen in a month. He stopped and looked up at the sky. An overwhelming sense of wrong washed over him and he knew what he needed to do.

Racing back into the forest he pushed with all his might until he reached the clearing he had spent most of his time in. Inside the shrine he found the most beautiful person he had ever seen and it broke his heart.

Mikleo had his back pressed against the wall and he was trying to hold it all back, all the desires to call a snowstorm and trap Sorey here. He didn't even notice the footsteps coming his way until a hand touched his cheek.

Warmth spread through him and he stared at Sorey, who must be a dream. But what dream had taste so real as warm lips covered his. They pulled apart and smiled through the tears glistening in their eyes. Everything was finally right again, together is where they needed to be.

The snow stopped falling and began to melt. Soon green filled the area. For now it was only near the shrine, but soon the land would begin to see spring again. The Summer Prince had come to take his place as King.


End file.
